Broke my stock!

[Scott Tschirhart]

I was doing some 200 yard shooting on a steel target this morning and I all of the sudden had some splinters in my right thumb!

Seems like the laminated stock on my Ruger Hawkeye broke at the wrist under recoil.

[Scott Tschirhart]

I suspect poor fitting at the factory. Glass bedding would likely have prevented this.

[EdinCT]

Scott, that just doesn't seem like it should of happened to a properly bedded Laminate stock rifle. I think you should send Ruger a email with pictures attached. I know if Mr William Ruger were alive it would be fixed on them unless its a truck gun left in the Texas heat.
I have had a Ruger 77 MKII 338 Win Mag laminated 20 years with no issues so far and that is a harsh load.

[JimT]

Wow. Sorry to see that my friend.

[AJMD429]

.
I'm guessing it wasn't one of them they chambered in 257 Roberts, but also assuming it wasn't in 460 Ruger either...?

Of course regardless, a stock should never break unless maybe you put it against a brick wall and fire a severe-recoil cartridge in it.

I'm guessing Ruger will fix it without charge, but the hassle of sending a gun and the frustration of waiting for its return are both annoying (...I can hear my kids saying "First World Problems got you down again, Dad...???" ).

[GunnyMack]

I'd say that was caused by poor inletting( metal touching wood. We were taught to relieve the wood where a tang meets wood. But not to leave a gap, we would under cut the relief while doing our best to keep the visible as tight as possible.

Bedding may have prevented that but laminated stocks are darn strong/tough! I might suspect some kind of defect in the stock.
Or you butt stroked someone

[JimT]

Bedding may have prevented that but laminated stocks are darn strong/tough! I might suspect some kind of defect in the stock.
Or you butt stroked someone

In March 1966 I was going through Basic Training at Ft. Bliss, Texas. We were issued the M14 and during one exercise on the bayonet course, we had to buttstroke the dummy and stick it with the bayonet. The guy in front of me whacks the dummy with his rifle butt and broke the stock clean off. It was hanging by the sling. He ran the rest of the course, buttstroking with the busted stock and sticking the bayonet as best he could. NEVER GIVE UP!! NEVER SURRENDER!

[Scott Tschirhart]

Scott, that just doesn't seem like it should of happened to a properly bedded Laminate stock rifle. I think you should send Ruger a email with pictures attached. I know if Mr William Ruger were alive it would be fixed on them unless its a truck gun left in the Texas heat.
I have had a Ruger 77 MKII 338 Win Mag laminated 20 years with no issues so far and that is a harsh load.

I’ve already reported it to Ruger. I’m sure they will make it right. It’s a .308 and I have less than 50 rounds down the barrel. I haven’t turned a screw except to mount a scope. It was a good shooter.

[High Desert Hunter]

Had the same thing happen on my 375 Ruger, they shipped me a new one, ultimately I put it in a Hogue with a better bedding block

Dave

[Ysabel Kid]

Scott, that just doesn't seem like it should of happened to a properly bedded Laminate stock rifle. I think you should send Ruger a email with pictures attached. I know if Mr William Ruger were alive it would be fixed on them unless its a truck gun left in the Texas heat.
I have had a Ruger 77 MKII 338 Win Mag laminated 20 years with no issues so far and that is a harsh load.

I’ve already reported it to Ruger. I’m sure they will make it right. It’s a .308 and I have less than 50 rounds down the barrel. I haven’t turned a screw except to mount a scope. It was a good shooter.

Hi Scott - keep us posted. If you look at the totality of posts on the site, it seems that problems with reputable brands are on the rise. Annoying, but most of the good companies stand behind there products. My worry is when they stop doing so and it becomes a stuff-shoot on whether you get a gun made on a Tuesday morning... or one made Friday afternoon!

[jeepnik]

Well, it is a plywood stock.

[44shooter]

Could be a defect in the lamination. I have a late tang safety M77 in 30-06 with a factory laminated stock, never had any issues. Ruger will make it right. I’ve used their customer service twice. Once for a medallion getting kicked out of a Vaquero stock within a few shots and another to have a bulged barrel replaced on my dime. They installed the barrel and reblued the entire rifle for FREE, even gave me a choice of a couple of calibers. New grips came back in a few days, I did not send the gun

[44shooter]

Well, it is a plywood stock.

Yeah just like Micarta is plypaper or G10 is plyplastic. Those plywood stocks made properly are way stronger than solid wood stocks

[jeepnik]

Well, it is a plywood stock.

Yeah just like Micarta is plypaper or G10 is plyplastic. Those plywood stocks made properly are way stronger than solid wood stocks

Folks keep saying that.

[LeverGunner]

I never would have thought it. When I first read the title I was expecting you to have been bucked of the side of a mountain or something, not target shooting. Glad it didn't give you a wicked splinter in the face.

[Scott Tschirhart]

I never would have thought it. When I first read the title I was expecting you to have been bucked of the side of a mountain or something, not target shooting. Glad it didn't give you a wicked splinter in the face.

It sort of surprised me. I was trying to shoot around 20 carefully aimed shots a month at 200 yards just to familiarize myself with the rifle. I was only intending to shoot 10 rounds yesterday. On the 10th round, I was bleeding from the inside of my right thumb and I pulled some splinters out.

I have to think that if the front recoil lugs were bedded properly this could not have happened. These laminated stocks are pretty tough.

[Lastmohecken]

Being only a .308, the recoil should never have broken that stock, unless it was defective from the factory, I would think. I read about poor bedding of the tang on some rifles to result in cracked stocks, but usually not catastrophic like that.

[Scott Tschirhart]

Dang! This thing broke all the way through the wrist!

[Scott Tschirhart]

Ruger emailed me a shipping label and a form to fill out. I’ll send it in tomorrow. Can’t ask for more than that.

[marlinman93]

Piller blocks made from heavy wall tubing would help avoid this from happening. I've done them on some high recoil rifles with wood stocks. Just buy some tubing the right ID for the through bolts and drill the mounting holes out to fit the OD of the tubing. Cut the tubing to length, and epoxy it into the enlarged holes. This way the bolts can be tightened down well and not compress the wood. And the larger diameter of the tube gives more area to avoid cracking.

[Scott Tschirhart]

The stock is so broken that I don’t think it makes sense to try to repair it. The Ruger is a little different from a Remington or Winchester action. The front action screw is installed at an angle and not 90 degrees to the stock. So metal tubing isn’t really going to work. What is needed is a firm place for the front recoil lug to rest.

[GunnyMack]

And to relieve the end of the tang! Even if bedded tight at the recoil lug and the rear of the tang is too tight it is going to cause the shock of recoil to hit the stock and could result in damage.
I suspect that the cutter Ruger was using had been sharpened a few times, now being smaller and the actual foot print was smaller causing the recoil to bang into the stock.
Another thing to look at is the tang profile, is it square or does it have some 'draft', meaning is it angled back towards the muzzle on the underside of the tang. If square then it has to be relieved which leads to the unsightly inletting gap everyone abhores. If it has draft then it can have tighter inletting.